Students researched a person/event from the Civil Rights Era and designed a glog to share their knowledge. Students were responsible for research, a glog following a rubric, an oral presentation where they shared their glog and their imbedded images, a self assessment and a class assessment, and a bibliography.
I knew I was challenged before I started the ET2T class, but have found out how much I don’t know about the bigger picture. The project brought about great confidence with me and my kids and I also realized that you can’t “break” things, only persevere through them.
When I began I was scared to death about me not knowing enough to introduce the information to my students. I now understand that kids can persevere through things on their own and, with great guidelines on behavior and classroom management, students will let me know what works and what doesn’t. They also became their best models. They knew who to go to for help and who to ask for guidance. It was quite the positive experience, although it certainly could have been more successful.
The glog site did not work well at school so the product turned out to be a goal in perseverance. For whatever reason, too many on the site at once, not compatible with mac computers, whatever, the kids had to finish the product at home. Knowing all kids did not have computers at home led us to creativity with time, friends, and flexibility. I learned so much about what the kids are capable of understanding and believing that, where there is a will, there is a way. Out of 55 students, all but two finished some sort of glog, presented their work to the class, and completed the final reflection exam.
The best question now is, will I do this again? Although not as successful as desired because of the difficulty with the site, the kids absolutely love the project. What took me three weeks to do because of computer glitches, I could have accomplished the old fashioned way in a week. With that being said, I can honestly say that the kids, due to the perseverance and having to redo their glogs numerous times, knew their information. Their presentations were 100% better than what I had received in years past. We may have spent too much time watching some of the old footage and videos the kids located, but it was good information and videos that I probably would not have had time to locate myself.
I learned that I don’t have to have all the answers to make a successful project. I learned that kids can persevere with solid engagement, and I also know that with proper guidance, kids will work together for an end result given they know the requirements. Leaders do emerge.
I would not have done any of this had I not taken the class. With that being said, I still was unsatisfied with the class. I still have more questions than answers, was provided too much information, and the environment was too unstructured for the lower level folks like myself who have not grown up with technology. The digital age is here and I will persevere, just still looking for support.
Literature Review
Literature Review
Elements from the book
For me to begin any project, I need to make sure it is meaningful, curricular based, measurable, and manageable. Section 1-111 helped me decide that a digital project could and would be beneficial and meet my criteria. There were questions and samples that I used to help me decide where to begin and how to proceed. What big ideas did I want to achieve and have my students come away with? On page 65 is a list of project-based qualities that helped me define my criteria.
Educational philosophy
I have always know and believed that technology and project based learning are important aspects of education. This book supported this philosophy, provided enhancing resources and background, and shared successful data to support itself and my philosophy.
Elements of the book that were insufficient or left you in need of more information
I do not believe that the book was insufficient. Quite the contrary, there was probably too much information and written in too heavy of tech talk that was unable for me to consume in the amount of time we were provided and without the direction that I needed. Since we were all teachers in the class with full time jobs and teaching regular classes, designing a project, and writing a partial curriculum, the book was “heavy”. But I am sure that since we are working on a new curriculum in our school district and at my school in particular, I will incorporate project-based learning into my curriculum map in the very near future.
Increased impact of student learning
Although the book was full of great information, project models would have been better set for my type of learning. I would have liked to see a whole project from start to finish with all the incorporates there, one solid completed model, with specific requirements and assessments. As mentioned earlier, the planning stages that were mentioned in Sections 1-3 will help tremendously for designing other project-based units.
Boss, S. and Krauss, J. (2007). Reinventing project-based learning, Eugene, OR:International Society for Technology in Education.
E2T2 Portfolio Page for Deb JordanSummary
Students researched a person/event from the Civil Rights Era and designed a glog to share their knowledge. Students were responsible for research, a glog following a rubric, an oral presentation where they shared their glog and their imbedded images, a self assessment and a class assessment, and a bibliography.Shared Lessons, Units, and Resources
Blog Entries
Jordan's BackcountryStudent Work Samples
Embed or upload your student samples from various online sourceshttp://debjordan.edu.glogster.com/friends/?offset=30
Summative Narrative
I knew I was challenged before I started the ET2T class, but have found out how much I don’t know about the bigger picture. The project brought about great confidence with me and my kids and I also realized that you can’t “break” things, only persevere through them.When I began I was scared to death about me not knowing enough to introduce the information to my students. I now understand that kids can persevere through things on their own and, with great guidelines on behavior and classroom management, students will let me know what works and what doesn’t. They also became their best models. They knew who to go to for help and who to ask for guidance. It was quite the positive experience, although it certainly could have been more successful.
The glog site did not work well at school so the product turned out to be a goal in perseverance. For whatever reason, too many on the site at once, not compatible with mac computers, whatever, the kids had to finish the product at home. Knowing all kids did not have computers at home led us to creativity with time, friends, and flexibility. I learned so much about what the kids are capable of understanding and believing that, where there is a will, there is a way. Out of 55 students, all but two finished some sort of glog, presented their work to the class, and completed the final reflection exam.
The best question now is, will I do this again? Although not as successful as desired because of the difficulty with the site, the kids absolutely love the project. What took me three weeks to do because of computer glitches, I could have accomplished the old fashioned way in a week. With that being said, I can honestly say that the kids, due to the perseverance and having to redo their glogs numerous times, knew their information. Their presentations were 100% better than what I had received in years past. We may have spent too much time watching some of the old footage and videos the kids located, but it was good information and videos that I probably would not have had time to locate myself.
I learned that I don’t have to have all the answers to make a successful project. I learned that kids can persevere with solid engagement, and I also know that with proper guidance, kids will work together for an end result given they know the requirements. Leaders do emerge.
I would not have done any of this had I not taken the class. With that being said, I still was unsatisfied with the class. I still have more questions than answers, was provided too much information, and the environment was too unstructured for the lower level folks like myself who have not grown up with technology. The digital age is here and I will persevere, just still looking for support.
Literature Review
Literature ReviewElements from the book
For me to begin any project, I need to make sure it is meaningful, curricular based, measurable, and manageable. Section 1-111 helped me decide that a digital project could and would be beneficial and meet my criteria. There were questions and samples that I used to help me decide where to begin and how to proceed. What big ideas did I want to achieve and have my students come away with? On page 65 is a list of project-based qualities that helped me define my criteria.
Educational philosophy
I have always know and believed that technology and project based learning are important aspects of education. This book supported this philosophy, provided enhancing resources and background, and shared successful data to support itself and my philosophy.
Elements of the book that were insufficient or left you in need of more information
I do not believe that the book was insufficient. Quite the contrary, there was probably too much information and written in too heavy of tech talk that was unable for me to consume in the amount of time we were provided and without the direction that I needed. Since we were all teachers in the class with full time jobs and teaching regular classes, designing a project, and writing a partial curriculum, the book was “heavy”. But I am sure that since we are working on a new curriculum in our school district and at my school in particular, I will incorporate project-based learning into my curriculum map in the very near future.
Increased impact of student learning
Although the book was full of great information, project models would have been better set for my type of learning. I would have liked to see a whole project from start to finish with all the incorporates there, one solid completed model, with specific requirements and assessments. As mentioned earlier, the planning stages that were mentioned in Sections 1-3 will help tremendously for designing other project-based units.
Boss, S. and Krauss, J. (2007). Reinventing project-based learning, Eugene, OR:International Society for Technology in Education.